Michigan Vamp

My Old License Plate

Eccentric Night Owl

Quote from Blood Read

"An ambiguously coded figure, a source of both erotic anxiety and corrupt desire, the literary vampire is one of the most powerful archetypes bequeathed to us from the imagination of the nineteenth century."~ page 2 introduction to Blood Read: The Vampire as Metaphor in Contemporary Culture

Intellectual Vampire Quote

"If the vampire is an other, he or she was always a figure in whom one could find one's self...the despicable as well as the defiant, the shameful as well as the unashamed, the loathing of oddness as well as pride in it."~ Richard Dyer

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Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Interviewer and author of the Markers series, Maria Violante, is seated on the left. Four characters from the book--Joseph, Shawn, Rhonda, and Charlie--are seated on the right. The four are positioned so that they face Maria, with their side profiles able to be seen by the audience. Maria stirs what appears to be a margarita before taking a large gulp.

Maria: “Welcome back to our guests . . . I mean, our sh-sh-ow.”

Rhonda and Charlie exchange a glance. It is clear to the audience from Maria’s slurred speech that she is “in her cups.” Judging by their expressions, both Shawn and Joseph have either not noticed or decided not to react. Both men are dressed in black from head to toe.

Maria: “If you’d like to hear about the first half of the interview and what a horror show it was, you can find it on the internet at http://cloeyk.blogspot.com/2013/11/maria-violante.html.” Hiccups. “But anyways, I’m here again with the cast of BirthMarked,” she shoots the cast members a glare, “better known as PTSD boy, can’t stop giggling, thinks she’s the center of the world, and Mr. twist the sich . . . sich . . . sitch--ee-a-shun to his advantage.”

Throughout her litany, she has pointed at the cast members one by one--first Shawn, then Rhonda, then Charlie, and finally Joseph. Now she nods, obviously impressed with herself, and seems to become lost for a second, before sitting bolt upright in her chair.

Maria: “And . . . let me tell you what a pain these guys are.” She points at Charlie.

Charlie: “Hey, that’s isn’t exactly fair. I mean, the first book is about me, and the second one is all about how I’m going to deal with being pursued by monsters and the Markers, and me finding out the truth of my path, and oh yeah, me deciding on which man--”

Maria whips up the hand--without the margarita--but somehow manages to overbalance enough to slosh half of her drink onto the floor.

Maria: “Stop! Don’t tell me I wrote one of those two-angsty-boy love triangles?” She stares at Charlie, aghast. Rhonda snickers. Maria puts her face in her palm and groans.

Maria: “Great, just great--now I’m queen of the cliches.” She starts to sob.

Rhonda and Charlie exchange a look. Rhonda points at Charlie, who shakes her head violently. Rhonda shrugs and looks away. Charlie sighs.

Charlie: “Hey, hey . . . it’s not all bad. I mean, the book has some really original stuff in it.”

Maria hiccups.

Maria: “Like what?”

Charlie swallows.

Charlie: “An evil fairy?”

Maria’s sobs get louder.

Charlie glares at Shawn and Joseph.

Charlie: “A little help here?”

Shawn yawns and remains silent. Joseph scratches his chin and then clears his throat.

Joseph: “Would it help that it’s not really a triangle? I mean . . . Charlie’s got to get with one of us, because of the prophecy, but it’s a specific one of us. It’s not like she really has a choice--”

Charlie bolts upright.

Charlie: “Hey, now--I totally have a choice. Screw you and your prophecy!”

Both men look aghast. Rhonda whoops. Maria takes an extra-large gulp from her margarita.

Shawn squints his eyes shuts for a few seconds while balling his hands into fists.

Shawn: “Okay, let’s tell the truth. None of us know what’s going to happen next--except for her.” He points at Maria. “And she hasn’t even finished writing the book yet.”

All four of them look at Maria. Maria’s lip lifts into a snarl.

Maria: “That’s not news to you guys, is it? And I’m writing as fast as I can.”

Joseph lifts his hands in a placating gesture.

Joseph: “We know. It’s got to be hard to come up with all those original monsters.”

Maria sniffles.

Joseph: “But think of this way--just because you wrote something one way doesn’t mean it will turn out that way, right?” He brightens considerably. “I mean, like, it could get rejected with a rewrite request, and then the love triangle could just be taken out!”

Maria groans and waves the camera away.

Maria: “Commercial break. Please. Just. Cue the commercial break.”

#

Author Note:

I originally tried out interviewing the cast on a guest post at Cloey’s book reviews. Turns out that putting warrior Shawn, conniving Joseph, giggling Rhonda, and permanently confused yet finding herself and quick to anger Charlie in a room together to talk about a common theme is, well, a horror show--and it looks like our second attempt didn’t go much better, either. Still, we’ve got a sneak peek at some of the things coming in the series, so that’s good . . . right?

Charlie Kale knows life isn't easy. But for the first time, this truck driver might have finally found her little piece of happiness. She's got it all—her big rig, friends, a great mentor, and a man about to join her on the road.

That is, until the good things in Charlie's life all fall apart, and she finds herself at the mercy of a sexy but mysterious gunman who claims to be a member of a secret order dedicated to fighting the supernatural monsters that filter over into our world.

She's given a choice—join up or die, and while the gunman might be insane, Charlie’s hell-bent on not dying.

Too bad it looks like that might not be an option.

About the Author:

Well-traveled and uncoordinated, Maria Violante is the best-selling author of several books in the realm of speculative fiction--all of them crossovers that require hyphens in the genre description (see: